"Dallas has lost an institution," said billionaire oil man T. Boone Pickens, "and way too early."

Editor's note: This story has been updated with details on Alan Peppard's public memorial service.

Alan Peppard, the Dallas native who worked his way from society columnist to Texas historian, who could turn forgotten footnotes into multipart series during his 30 years at The Dallas Morning News, died Saturday night. He was 56.

Peppard died in his sleep at his Highland Park home, two years after he left The News and went to work in the family business, Geomap Co. Based in Plano, the company was founded 60 years ago by his father, Vernon Peppard, a geologist and pilot.

The Greenhill School and Southern Methodist University graduate's first byline appeared in D Magazine — in the October 1984 issue, in which he wrote about the cars of Dallas' rich and famous, among them Stanley Marcus and WFAA-TV (Channel 8) sports anchor Dale Hansen. He served as an assistant editor at the city magazine.

In August 1987, at 24, he was hired at The Dallas Morning News to serve as one of two reporters responsible "for covering social events in the Dallas area," said the announcement that ran in the paper. In short order the man with the political science degree from SMU became a fixture and favorite as he chronicled the doings of boldface names at Shannon Wynne's 8.0 (where he had lunch almost every day), the Cattle Baron's Ball, the Mansion on Turtle Creek and places long since vanished, among them the Highland Park Yacht Club and Starck Club.

"Alan reported on Dallas' power elite with an insider's knowledge and an outsider's curiosity," said Dallas Morning News editor Mike Wilson. "He was a tireless researcher and joyful raconteur, always eager to share a juicy anecdote or a photo of himself next to some boldface name in Jerry Jones' private suite. He knew a larger-than-life character when he saw one because he was one himself. We will miss him."

Added his longtime friend Skip Hollandsworth, the Texas Monthly writer: "A lot of people read Alan to live vicariously through his columns."

Peppard was best known for writing about the very powerful, the very rich — and, occasionally, the wannabe-wealthies. He rendered rich nobodies local somebodies, occasionally made them famous, and loved more than anything turning the spotlight on people who preferred to remain on the sidelines. He genuinely enjoyed writing about the boldface names and spending time in their company and wrote about all of these subjects without the snark and smirks common to celebrity and social-world journalism.

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“If you look at most people who do this job, it’s dirty-laundrying and trash-mongering,” said lifelong friend Mike Ablon, the Dallas developer who recently ran for mayor. “He was liked by everyone he wrote about. Very much.”

In his September 2017 farewell column, Peppard wrote about his friendships with Larry Hagman, Dallas' J.R. Ewing; Dallas Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett; and presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush. And he counted among his closest confidants billionaire oilman T. Boone Pickens, the subject of a lengthy private-world peek in 2017, shortly before Peppard went into his father's business.

“Alan’s passing is shocking news,” said the 91-year-old Pickens. “Dallas has lost an institution, and way too early. Alan was one of the most feared yet respected media figures in Dallas. For decades his columns and insight pieces on the business and social elite of this town were early morning must-reads. There was no one better at the gift of gab and gossip than Alan.”

In his farewell, Peppard wrote, too, about the note sent to him by George W. Bush 18 years ago, when Alan and Jennifer’s twin daughters, Amanda Rose and Isabel Eugenie, were born.

But in time the society column became something Peppard did because he had to — because it was easy for him. In recent years he turned his attention to his first great passions: storytelling and local lore.

In ensuing years, Peppard still kept tabs on the comings and goings of Dallas' wealthy and visiting celebrities; he probably spoke to restaurateur Al Biernat, who catered Peppard's Dallas Morning News farewell, as often as he did his own family. But it had become clear he was far more interested in writing long stories about important moments lost to history, or tangential asides from which he could spin compelling narratives.

“He really was so unbelievably talented, and he so loved writing,” said Jennifer, a northwest Dallas native to whom Peppard was married in June 1995 after two years of dating. “I loved that he was a writer. I loved that part of Alan. The history is what he loved, the longform narratives. And I think that continued to get stronger.”

Born less than 10 months before the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, Peppard contributed to a package of stories marking the 50th anniversary of JFK's death by writing a memorable piece about the man accused assassin Lee Harvey Oswald tried but failed to kill — former Major Gen. Edwin A. Walker.

“Alan was magical,” Land said. “He had all the right words and a finesse unlike anyone I’ve ever known. He had a brilliant mind and a natural curiosity about people. He took me under his wing early on in my career, and our journalistic collaborations are some of my fondest memories. I knew Alan as a father, too. He adored his girls more than anything on this earth. I picture him in heaven, chatting up all the boldface names that we have lost. I’ll miss him so very much.”

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After Peppard's departure from The News, his wife tried to persuade him to continue writing. But he'd had enough. Peppard was happy working in his father's old office, alongside his sister.

In addition to his wife and 18-year-old twins, Peppard is survived by 10-year-old daughter Charlotte Katherine and sisters Katherine Brewer and Mary Ann Peppard, both of Dallas. Funeral services are pending.

UPDATED at 9:47 a.m., June 11, 2019: The memorial service for Alan Peppard will take place at 1 p.m. Thursday at Highland Park United Methodist Church, 3300 Mockingbird Lane in Dallas. The service is open to the public.